• SPECIALS: This week, our special is music. 
• THURSDAY Field Trip to DMNS: This upcoming Thursday, February 23rd, the 1st, and 2nd-grade classes will be taking an amazing field trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.   

• To visually connect all our students on the field trip, have your child wear their red Westgate shirt or another red shirt. 
• Students need a disposable sack lunch and a water bottle.  There will not be access to microwaves, please do not send anything that requires heating.   

• Please have them wear comfortable walking shoes.   
• Our 1-2 classes are going on this field trip to continue learning about their science units. We will be leaving Westgate at 9:15 AM and will be returning at 2:00 PM. Please fill out the permission form by Wednesday, Feb. 22nd here: DMNS Permission Slip Link 
• If you are interested in being a chaperone for this trip, please let me know. All chaperones must have completed a background check.  

• Scholastic Book Orders: Book Order Flyers were sent home in Friday Folders. You can also order online by using our class code YGYPH. Every order earns our class Bonus Points for FREE Books and resources for our classroom. The deadline for ordering books is Tuesday, February 28.  
• Yearbook Ordering is Open 

• $31 each / can only be purchased online / must order by April 20 
• Click here to order. 

Volunteer Opportunities:  

• Friday Folders: Our Friday Folder sign-up is full! Thank you to those of you who have helped so far this year and to those of you who have signed up to help for the remainder of the school year. Your help is invaluable and saves me so much time! 
• Tear out pages from workbooks: Both our math and language arts workbooks need the worksheets torn out of them before the students can use them. The math workbooks are quite large. This is a volunteer opportunity that would need to be accomplished at the school.  

Donations:  

• Thank you for the donations that have already been sent in!  
• Our class would love to have a few extra snacks on hand for those students who forget/do not bring one. If you are able, individually wrapped snacks are appreciated. This is an ongoing request. 

Advocacy Class: In February, we continue our work with EMPATHY. This month is about looking at EMPATHY in the form of caring for others.  

• Learning Goal: Students will learn skills to communicate their feelings and needs to others, while also learning skills that allow them to listen and respond to the feelings and needs of others. 

• SPECIALS: This week, our special is music. 

• Kindness Week: In lieu of celebrating Valentine’s Day, Westgate uses this week to celebrate Kindness Week and Teacher Appreciation Week. Reminder, our students do not exchange Valentine’s Day cards/candy/etc. so please do not send your student to school with valentines or treats.  Instead, our K-8 students are going out into the community to distribute hand-made Kindness cards to our neighbors. All companies that participated in previous years are excited to restart this tradition and the new companies are looking forward to hosting our students. 

• Our class will be going to the Murphy Company. The Murphy company is just across 126th St., on the corner of 128th & Washington. 

•  A little info about Murphy Company: 

• Murphy Company Mechanical Contractors and Engineers employs more than 300 salaried workers and 900 union craft workers in the pipefitter, boilermaker, plumber, sheet metal, HVAC, and laborer trades from its headquarters in St. Louis and regional offices in Denver and Colorado Springs.  

• Scholastic Book Orders: Book Order Flyers were sent home in Friday Folders. You can also order online by using our class code YGYPH. Every order earns our class Bonus Points for FREE Books and resources for our classroom. The deadline for ordering books is Tuesday, February 28.  

Volunteer Opportunities:  

• Friday Folders: Our Friday Folder sign up is full! Thank you to those of you who have helped so far this year and to those of you who have signed up to help for the remainder of the school year. Your help is invaluable and saves me so much time! 
• Tear out pages from workbooks: Both our math and language arts workbooks need the worksheets torn out of them before the students can use them. The math workbooks are quite large. This is a volunteer opportunity that would need to be accomplished at the school.  

Donations:  

• Thank you for the donations that have already been sent in!  
• Our class would love to have a few extra snacks on hand for those students who forget/do not bring one. If you are able, individually wrapped snacks are appreciated. This is an ongoing request. 

Advocacy Class: In February, we continue our work with EMPATHY. This month is about looking at EMPATHY in the form of caring for others. Kindness week fits in perfectly with this theme as we plan to be kind to others in different ways: Words of affirmation, Acts of Service, Quality Time, and Giving.  

• Learning Goal: Students will learn skills to communicate their feelings and needs to others, while also learning skills that allow them to listen and respond to the feelings and needs of others. 

Dates and Announcements  

• SPECIALS: This week, our special is music. 

• Kindness Week: In lieu of celebrating Valentine’s Day, Westgate uses this week to celebrate Kindness Week and Teacher Appreciation Week. Reminder, our students do not exchange Valentine’s Day cards/candy/etc. so please do not send your student to school with valentines or treats.  Instead, our students are going out into the community to distribute hand-made Kindness cards to our neighbors. All companies that participated in previous years are excited to restart this tradition and the new companies are looking forward to hosting our students. Please make sure to fill out the permission slip that was sent in an email on Sunday. 

• • Our class will be going to the Murphy Company. The Murphy company is just across 126th St., on the corner of 128th & Washington. 
  •  A little info about Murphy Company: Murphy Company Mechanical Contractors and Engineers employs more than 300 salaried workers and 900 union craft workers in the pipefitter, boilermaker, plumber, sheet metal, HVAC, and laborer trades from its headquarters in St. Louis and regional offices in Denver and Colorado Springs.  

• Scholastic Book Orders: Book Order Flyers were sent home in Friday Folders last week. You can also order online by using our class code YGYPH. Every order earns our class Bonus Points for FREE Books and resources for our classroom. The deadline for ordering books is Tuesday, February 28.  

Volunteer Opportunities:  

• Thank you, volunteers! Your help is greatly appreciated! 😊 
• Friday Folders: We have a few spots available if you are interested in sorting papers by students to be sent home in Friday Folders. Feel free to sign up through the end of May, if you would like. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FA4AD2FA6FFC25-friday1  
• Tear out pages from workbooks: Both our math and language arts workbooks need the worksheets torn out of them before the students can use them. The math workbooks are quite large. This is a volunteer opportunity that would need to be accomplished at the school.  

Donations:  

• Thank you for the donations that have already been sent in!  
• Our class would love to have a few extra snacks on hand for those students who forget/do not bring one. If you are able, individually wrapped snacks are appreciated. This is an ongoing request. 

Advocacy Class: In February, we continue our work with EMPATHY. This month is about looking at EMPATHY in the form of caring for others. Kindness week fits in perfectly with this theme as we plan to be kind to others in different ways: Words of affirmation, Acts of Service, Quality Time, and Giving.  

• Learning Goal: Students will learn skills to communicate their feelings and needs to others, while also learning skills that allow them to listen and respond to the feelings and needs of others. 

• SPECIALS: This is our last week of P.E. Please make sure that your child wears or brings athletic shoes every day. Next week, we will switch specials to Music. 
• Kindness Week: In lieu of celebrating Valentine’s Day, Westgate uses this week to celebrate Kindness Week and Teacher Appreciation Week. Please do not send your child to school with valentines to pass out to classmates. We will not be celebrating Valentine’s Day. More details about Kindness Week to come. 
• Scholastic Book Orders: Book Order Flyers were sent home in Friday Folders. You can also order online by using our class code YGYPH. Every order earns our class Bonus Points for FREE Books and resources for our classroom. The deadline for ordering books is Tuesday, February 28.  

Volunteer Opportunities:  

• Thank you, volunteers! Your help is greatly appreciated! 😊 
• Friday Folders: We have a few spots available if you are interested in sorting papers by students to be sent home in Friday Folders. Feel free to sign up through the end of May, if you would like. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FA4AD2FA6FFC25-friday1  
• Tear out pages from workbooks: Both our math and language arts workbooks need the worksheets torn out of them before the students can use them. The math workbooks are quite large. This is a volunteer opportunity that would need to be accomplished at the school.  

Donations:  

• Thank you for the donations that have already been sent in!  
• Our class is in need of paper plates for students to use when heating up their food in the microwave. 
• Our class would love to have a few extra snacks on hand for those students who forget/do not bring one. If you are able, individually wrapped snacks are appreciated. This is an ongoing request. 

Advocacy Class/Service Learning: December’s Advocacy Theme is focused on Empathy for Oneself.  

Learning Goals:  

• Students will identify things that trigger negative emotions and tools to care for themselves when they feel negative emotions like stress, anger, sadness, or confusion.  
• Students will practice self-regulation skills and utilize tools for self-care. 

Topics taught will include: the use of feeling words, emotional regulation, growth mindset, identifying triggers, calming, affirmations, and setting boundaries.  

Dates and Announcements  

• Field Trip to Boettcher Concert Hall: We have a schoolwide field trip on Tuesday, January 24th. We will be attending the "Drums of the World" performance at the Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver. We will be leaving school at 9:00 am and returning at 11:30 am. Students will eat lunch at school. 
• SPECIALS: Our special for January is P.E. Please make sure that your child wears or brings athletic shoes every day.  

Volunteer Opportunities:  

• Thank you, volunteers! Your help is greatly appreciated! 😊 
• Friday Folders: We have a few spots available if you are interested in sorting papers by students to be sent home in Friday Folders. Feel free to sign up through the end of May, if you would like. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FA4AD2FA6FFC25-friday1  
• Tear out pages from workbooks: Both our math and language arts workbooks need the worksheets torn out of them before the students can use them. The math workbooks are quite large. This is a volunteer opportunity that would need to be accomplished at the school.  

Donations:  

• Thank you for the donations that have already been sent in!  
• Our class is in need of paper plates for students to use when heating up their food in the microwave. 
• Our class would love to have a few extra snacks on hand for those students who forget/do not bring one. If you are able, individually wrapped snacks are appreciated. This is an ongoing request. 

Happy New Year and Welcome back! I am so excited to see your children this week. I have missed them!

Dates and Announcements

• SPECIALS: Our special this week is P.E. Please make sure that your child wears or brings athletic shoes every day. We will have P.E. on Thursday after our field trip. 
• FIELD TRIP: As a reminder, this Thursday, January 12th, our class is going to the Dumb Friends League (Leslie A. Malone Center) from 9:30-1:00. Please send your student with a disposable sack lunch and disposable water bottle on this day. Our service-learning project this year is to support animals in animal shelters. During the month of November, our class helped gather supplies during our supply drive and it was extremely successful. To continue supporting animals in animal shelters, we will be participating in a tour, doing an educational activity to learn how to properly approach animals, and making adopt me signs for some of the animals. 

• If you have not already done so, please fill out the permission form for your student by Tuesday, January 10th here:  

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=g63kUOjsn0GLHt1cphgzjax5twONPrRKvpCq_7Gi8UhURFJaUlA4UTFYVzNVSDVaMVhNVlFGNklRTS4u  

• REPORT CARDS: Many families received their child’s report card during conferences. Report cards were emailed to families on Sunday, January 8. If you have not received a paper copy of your child’s report card, it will be coming home in their Friday Folder this week. If you have not received a report card of any type, please let me know.  
• Please label your child’s belongings, including coats, lunch boxes, water bottles, and backpacks.  
• Please let me know of your child’s games, recitals and performances. If my family schedule allows, I would love to come support your child and cheer them on. 😊  

Volunteer Opportunities:  

• Thank you, volunteers! Your help is greatly appreciated! 😊 
• Friday Folders: Sign up to help on some or all Fridays throughout the year, sorting papers by students to be sent home in Friday Folders. Feel free to sign up through the end of May, if you would like. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FA4AD2FA6FFC25-friday1  

• Tear out pages from workbooks: Both our math and language arts workbooks need the worksheets torn out of them before the students can use them. The math workbooks are quite large. This is a volunteer opportunity that would need to be accomplished at the school.  

Donations:  

• Thank you for the donations that have already been sent in!  
• Our class would love to have a few extra snacks on hand for those students who forget/do not bring one. If you are able, individually wrapped snacks are appreciated. This is an ongoing request. 

Advocacy Class/Service Learning: December’s Advocacy Theme is focused on Empathy for Oneself.  

Learning Goals:  

• Students will identify things that trigger negative emotions and tools to care for themselves when they feel negative emotions like stress, anger, sadness, or confusion.  
• Students will practice self-regulation skills and utilize tools for self-care. 

Topics taught will include the use of feeling words, emotional regulation, growth mindset, identifying triggers, calming, affirmations, and setting boundaries.  

Dates and Announcements  

Modern Market Eatery Spirit Night                  Dec. 11 AM to 9 PM 

Parent/Teacher Conferences                            Thurs. Dec. 15th in person 

                                                                               Friday, Dec. 16th Virtual 

Winter Break                                                        Dec. 19th – Jan. 6th   

Reeder & Foley Diaz Field Trip                          January 12, 9:30-1:00 

to the Dumb Friends League 

2nd Quarter Parent/Teacher Conferences: Conference signups will be emailed out on Monday, Dec. 4th after 4 PM. The signups will close on Monday, Dec. 14th.   

• Our IN-PERSON conferences will be held on Thursday, December 15th from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. 
• Our VIRTUAL conferences will be held on Friday, December 16th from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. 
• As with our 1st Quarter Conferences, please remember that you may NOT request a virtual conference on the in-person day or an in-person conference on the virtual conference day.  
• Please pick ONE fifteen-minute time slot. If you accidentally sign up for more than one spot, your 2nd choice will automatically be disregarded. When reserving a conference slot, please make sure to include your name and the name of your child. 

Conference times are offered with Literacy and/or Math teachers only. If you are not sure which teachers to sign up with, please contact your child's Advocacy teacher. 

• Our special this week is Art. After the Winter Break, our special will be P.E. 

• Please label your child’s belongings, including coats, lunch boxes, water bottles, and backpacks. 
• Please let me know of your child’s games, recitals and performances. If my family schedule allows, I would love to come support your child and cheer them on. 😊  

Volunteer Opportunities:  

• Thank you volunteers! Your help is greatly appreciated! 😊 
• Friday Folders: Sign up to help on some or all Fridays throughout the year, sorting papers by students to be sent home in Friday Folders. Feel free to sign up through the end of May, if you would like. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FA4AD2FA6FFC25-friday1  
• Tear out pages from workbooks: Both our math and language arts workbooks need the worksheets torn out of them before the students can use them. The math workbooks are quite large. This is a volunteer opportunity that would need to be accomplished at the school.  

Donations:  

• Thank you for the donations that have already been sent in!  
• Our class would love to have a few extra snacks on hand for those students who forget/don’t bring one. If you are able, individually wrapped snacks are appreciated. This is an ongoing request. 

Advocacy Class/Service Learning: December’s Advocacy Theme is focused on the Greater Good, which is a time for us to consider how we can leverage our strengths and use these skills we've learned/ practiced leaving a positive impact on our community/ the larger world.  

• Learning Goal: Students will reflect on what community means and will identify various community needs. 

In class, we read the books, “Madi’s Fridge” by Lois Brandt and “Last Stop on Market Street” by Matt de la Pena. We also had some 6th graders come into our class and read books to small groups during our Advocacy time this week. The kids loved it! 

Dates and Announcements

• Thursday, November 17: 1-2 Pod Field Trip to Northglenn Arts to see the play, “Seussical the Musical.” Please make sure that you have submitted a permission slip this week. https://forms.office.com/r/sy67n3VMvx
• Thursday, November 17, 5:00-8:00 pm: Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A
• 1^st and 2^nd Grade Service-Learning Drive: As part of Service-Learning this year, 1^st and 2^nd grade students are running a Supply Drive in partnership with the Dumb Friends League. Our students made handmade signs to hold up at car line, collecting items, and helping to spread the word about our supply drive. We are hoping to collect 46 food items, 26 cleaning items, 9 care items, and 15 enrichment items. See flyer below for what these items could be. 1^st and 2^nd grade students will be collecting items for donation during afternoon car line (3:30-4:00) on Nov. 7^th, 9^th, 14^th, and 18^th. Our class is going out again on Mon. Nov. 14^th. If you can pick up your student a little later than usual on those days (3:55), that would be great.
• Holiday Bazaar: Saturday, November 19, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
  Westgate will be hosting our first Winter Bazaar in the south parking lot. There will be lots of booths hosting all sorts of unique merchandise, crafts, and food. Come do some holiday shopping, drink some delicious hot drinks, and hang out with family and friends.
• November 21-25: NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING BREAK
• Book Orders: New scholastic book orders came home in Friday Folders. Orders are due by November 28. Feel free to shop our class page: https://orders.scholastic.com/YGYPH

• Please let me know of your child’s games, recitals and performances. If my family schedule allows, I would love to come support your child and cheer them on. 😊

Volunteer Opportunities:

• Thank you volunteers! Your help is greatly appreciated! 😊
• Upcoming Field Trip Chaperones needed. Chaperones must have a current background check on file through Westgate. More field trip info to come this week.
• Friday Folders: Sign up to help on some or all Fridays throughout the year, sorting papers by students to be sent home in Friday Folders. Feel free to sign up through the end of May, if you would like. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FA4AD2FA6FFC25-friday1
• Tear out pages from workbooks: Both our math and language arts workbooks need the paper torn out of them before the students can use them. The math workbooks are quite large. This is a volunteer opportunity that would need to be accomplished at the school.

Donations:

• Thank you for the donations that have already been sent in!
• Our class would love to have a few extra snacks on hand for those students who forget/don’t bring one. If you are able, individually wrapped snacks are appreciated. This is an ongoing request.

Advocacy Class/Service Learning: This past week in Advocacy, we began our new theme, “Accept, Respect, and Value Differences.” We made a list of differences between people, such as differences in appearance, opinions, housing situations, etc. And then talked about how differences make us who we are and are not necessarily bad. Later in the week, we listened to a read aloud of the book, “Same, Same, But Different,” by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw. We completed a Venn Diagram of the ways the two boys in the book are the same and different.

Dates and Announcements   

• Friday, November 11: NO SCHOOL in honor of Veteran’s Day. 
• Thursday, November 17: 1-2 Pod Field Trip to Northglenn Arts to see the play, “Seussical the Musical.” Look for a permission slip this week. 
• Thursday, November 17, 5:00-8:00 pm: Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A 
• 1st and 2nd Grade Service-Learning Drive: As part of Service-Learning this year, 1st and 2nd grade students are running a Supply Drive in partnership with the Dumb Friends League. Our students made handmade signs to hold up at car line, collecting items, and helping to spread the word about our supply drive. We are hoping to collect 46 food items, 26 cleaning items, 9 care items, and 15 enrichment items. See flyer below for what these items could be. 1st and 2nd grade students will be collecting items for donation during afternoon car line (3:30-4:00) on Nov. 7th, 9th, 14th, and 18th. Our class is going on Nov. 7th and 14th. If you can pick up your student a little later than usual on those days (3:55), that would be great. 
• Holiday Bazaar: Saturday, November 19, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm 
  Westgate will be hosting our first Winter Bazaar in the south parking lot. There will be lots of booths hosting all sorts of unique merchandise, crafts, and food. Come do some holiday shopping; drink some yummy hot drinks and hang out with family and friends. We still need vendors!  For a booth Westgate family business contact: Jenny at [email protected] for booth rental information. The deadline to rent a booth is November 1st. 
• November 21-25: NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING BREAK 
• Book Orders: New scholastic book orders came home in Friday Folders this week. Orders are due by November 28. Feel free to shop our class page: https://orders.scholastic.com/YGYPH 

• Please let me know of your child’s games, recitals and performances. If my family schedule allows, I would love to come support your child and cheer them on. 😊   

Volunteer Opportunities:  Thank you volunteers! Your help is greatly appreciated! 😊 

• Upcoming Field Trip Chaperones needed. Chaperones must have a current background check on file through Westgate. More field trip info to come this week.
• Friday Folders: We need a volunteer to do Friday folders this THURSDAY, November 10. If you are able to fill this spot, please do so on our sign-up genius. Sign up to help on some or all Fridays throughout the year, sorting papers by students to be sent home in Friday Folders. Feel free to sign up through the end of May, if you would like. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FA4AD2FA6FFC25-friday1  
• Tear out pages from workbooks: Both our math and language arts workbooks need the paper torn out of them before the students can use them. The math workbooks are quite large. This is a volunteer opportunity that would need to be accomplished at the school.  

Donations:  

• Thank you for the donations that have already been sent in!  

• Our class would love to have a few extra snacks on hand for those students who forget/don’t bring one. If you are able, individually wrapped snacks are appreciated. This is an ongoing request. 

Advocacy Class/Service Learning: This past week in Advocacy, we celebrated 3 different birthdays. We also made signs with Ms. Charlie for our Dumb Friends League Supply Drive. We will be holding up our signs and collecting items out at afternoon carline on Monday, Nov. 7 and Nov. 14. 

Dates and Announcements  

Zero Waste Wednesday update: This week, 15 out of 23 students in our class participated in Zero Waste lunches! Wow! Our class had a couple names shouted out as "Zero Heroes" on the school intercom: Autumn Walsh, Lilly Barbee, June London, Runa Ogard, Reagan Lewis-Hextell, and Vinnie Cooper. 

• Friday, September 30: Scholastic Book Orders due. There is still time to order! If you are interested in placing an online order, shop our class page here: https://orders.scholastic.com/YGYPH. I gave some recommendations for books, as well as books on our class’s wish list. 
• Friday, September 30: Report Cards will come home in Friday Folders. Please make sure that your child returns their Friday Folder this week. 
• Saturday, October 1 at 1:30 p.m. Colorado Rapids vs FC Dallas - Fundraising Event: at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. $5 of every ticket will be donated to Westgate. 
• Parent Teacher conferences: 

• Monday October 3, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.: In-person parent-teacher conferences will be held at Westgate.  
• Tuesday, October 4, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: Virtual parent-teacher conferences will be held online using Microsoft Teams. You will receive a link to join the video conference call.  
• If you have not signed up for a conference, you have until Wednesday, September 27 at 4:00 p.m. to do so. Conferences are held with your child’s literacy and math teacher, not with your child’s Advocacy Teacher. Please choose the conference slot accordingly. If you are not sure which teachers your child has for literacy and math, you can ask your child or email your child’s advocacy teacher.  
• Conference sign-up link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4FA8AF2DAAFC1-1stqtr1  
• You will be emailed a confirmation of your child’s conference time on Friday, September 30.  

• October 3-October 16: Fall Break – NO SCHOOL 
• October 17, 3:45-5:45: Rumplestiltskilkin play auditions 

Volunteer Opportunities:  

• Thank you volunteers! Your help is greatly appreciated! 😊 
• Friday Folders: sign up to help on some or all Fridays throughout the year, sorting papers by students to be sent home in Friday Folders. Feel free to sign up through the end of May, if you would like. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FA4AD2FA6FFC25-friday1  
• Tear out pages from workbooks: Both our math and language arts workbooks need the papers torn out of them before the students can use them. The math workbooks are quite large. This is a volunteer opportunity that would need to be accomplished at the school.  

Donations:  

• Thank you for the donations that have already been sent in!  
• Our class would love to have a few extra snacks on hand for those students who forget/don’t bring one. This week, we ran out by Friday. If you are able, individually wrapped snacks are appreciated. This is an ongoing request. 

Advocacy Class: This past week in Advocacy, we began identifying things we are good at as strengths and writing ways we are strong in a booklet. This week, we will reflect on our first quarter and identify goals for the rest of the year. 

Service Learning and/or Westgate Animals: Last week we learned how to identify Westgate’s chickens. This coming week, we will pick up trash from around Westgate’s campus.